Saying this, Gu Xingmo picked up a cup and went to the direct drinking machine to pour her a cup of water at a suitable temperature.
As he walked towards the entrance with the cup of water, he bumped into Su Jiaobai, who had just finished changing her shoes.
Su Jiaobai’s grumbling complaint was immediately swallowed as she saw the man approaching her.
She was still holding a stack of books, so Gu Xingmo directly took them with one hand, while offering the cup of water to Su Jiaobai with the other.
Su Jiaobai expressed her gratitude, “Thank you, thank you.” She then took the cup and drank slowly.
After Gu Xingmo put the books on the bookshelf in the living room, he returned to the dining room. As he walked over, he took the opportunity to appraise Teacher Su.
After a few days, she had indeed changed. Not only was her face smaller, but her figure was also much slimmer.
It seemed Teacher Su’s dieting was effective.
“Why did you suddenly decide to lose weight?” Gu Xingmo asked casually after walking over.
In fact, even in her previous state, he thought she was fine. She wasn’t thin, but she was only slightly overweight, not to the point where she needed to actively lose weight.
She had a good foundation, and being slightly overweight didn’t significantly affect her overall appearance.
Su Jiaobai had finished drinking her water and was now sitting at the dining table, waiting for the meal.
She wasn’t surprised by his question, knowing that he must have noticed the change in dishes, asked Liu Ma about it, and then Liu Ma had told him.
“Don’t you think I’m fat?” Before, she had been solely focused on work and how to target Lu Leyao, not caring about her appearance.
But now, with her mindset changed, she had shifted her focus to herself. Besides thinking about how to make money and do her job well, she was also thinking about how to become healthier and more beautiful.
In just one week, by changing her diet alone and with a little exercise, she had lost five pounds. This showed that there was still significant room for her to lose more weight.
She planned to go to the gym to exercise in her spare time after school started. Dieting could only reduce her weight, but to firm up her body, she would need a combination of cardio and weight training.
Gu Xingmo sat in the seat next to her and answered her question objectively, “I didn’t think you were fat, but being slightly thinner would probably be better.” He was curious, “But why did you suddenly decide to lose weight?”
“Aren’t you smart enough to guess?” Su Jiaobai thought he should have been able to guess.
After all, she had started dieting and exercising after returning from the Lu family that day.
Gu Xingmo’s dark eyes fixed on her, but he shook his head, “I really don’t know.”
Su Jiaobai didn’t know if he truly didn’t know or was pretending not to. In any case, it didn’t matter. She had also become smarter and realized that she didn’t need to be so rigid about everything. So, she teased, “Don’t you want your wife to be more beautiful, so you’ll have more face when you take her out?”
After saying this jokingly, she realized belatedly that given their current relationship, they weren’t at a stage for such banter.
Although they had conceived Junzai through a one-night stand and had gotten married, truthfully, living under the same roof, they were no better than strangers.
Apart from that one time, there had been no further marital intimacy. In fact, there hadn’t even been any physical contact.
In such a situation, her sudden and presumptuous remark was naturally inappropriate, even seeming greasy.
And she was already feeling quite awkward, and to make matters worse, Gu Xingmo, who always had high emotional intelligence and never let her words fall flat, didn’t respond this time… making her even more embarrassed.
She had suffered from social anxiety since childhood. At this moment, she naturally averted her gaze, not daring to look at Gu Xingmo’s expression.
Just then, Liu Ma came in with the dishes, breaking the awkward silence.
“Mr. Gu, Teacher Su, all the dishes are ready. You can eat now,” Liu Ma said.
Su Jiaobai quickly took the half-bowl of rice Liu Ma served her and buried her head in her meal. She ate very quickly today, and after finishing, she hurriedly said goodbye to Gu Xingmo, “Eat slowly. I’m going upstairs.” Then she fled as if escaping.
Although autumn had already begun, the “autumn tiger” was fierce, and the weather was still very hot.
She had sweated from walking back from the residential compound entrance. Su Jiaobai decided to take a quick shower.
After showering and changing into clean clothes, she came downstairs and found Gu Xingmo still in the living room, playing with Junzai alone.
He was playing with a toy, making Junzai giggle with laughter. His normally large eyes were almost squinted into slits.
Su Jiaobai didn’t go over to disturb their intimate father-son moment, but stood in a corner watching.
This was also one of the reasons she didn’t want to divorce Gu Xingmo for now. Besides the financial aspect, Junzai’s physical and mental health during his growth was also very important.
Thinking of the tragic ending of their family of three in that book, Su Jiaobai felt a chill run down her spine.
She didn’t know what the final outcome would be, but she would do her best to change it.
With this thought, she also walked over and actively joined in the family interaction.
“Junzai, what are you playing with Daddy? You’re so happy.” After taking off her shoes and stepping over the barrier, Su Jiaobai sat cross-legged beside the father and son.
Junzai had already learned to recognize people, especially with his mother appearing more frequently in recent days. Seeing his mother approach, Junzai, who couldn’t walk yet, crawled towards her.
Like a little cannonball, he burrowed into his mother Su Jiaobai’s arms.
To be honest, Su Jiaobai hadn’t had very deep feelings for Junzai before.
Marriage and childbirth were both outside her plans.
She didn’t have much maternal love for Junzai, who was conceived under such circumstances.
But in the past few days, with her intention to change the fate of their family of three, her feelings for her son had changed, and their interactions had naturally increased.
And emotions are cultivated through interaction. With more mother-son interaction, their bond naturally grew.
Now, not only did Junzai cling to his mother, but she also cherished her son Junzai.
She scooped her son into her arms, let him sit on her lap, and then playfully asked him, “Junzai hasn’t told Mommy yet, what were you playing with Daddy just now?”
“Ugh~ Oh~” Junzai seemed to understand his mother’s words and babbled back to her.
Sister Zhou had said that children of this age were in a stage of great curiosity and exploration. They needed to be spoken to and interacted with more to help them gradually understand the world.
“Were you playing with the ball? Daddy made the ball roll down the slide, wasn’t that amazing?” The toy was a wooden three-tiered slide, and the ball was about the size of a quail egg. Placing the ball at the top, it would roll down the slope to the bottom.
Such a simple game could make Junzai giggle with laughter. He would laugh every time the ball rolled down.
It could be seen that the world of children was pure and lovely.
“Our Junzai is also very capable. Junzai, can you make the ball roll down too?” Saying this, Su Jiaobai took Junzai’s hand to pick up the ball.
Seeing this, Gu Xingmo quickly handed the ball in his hand to his wife.
In their haste, their hands touched, and they clearly felt the warmth of each other’s hands.
This was the first time he had touched her hand. It was very delicate, smooth as silk. Her hand was very soft, completely different from his own or other men’s hands.
But this feeling and thought flashed through Gu Xingmo’s mind. Soon, his attention was drawn back to his wife’s interaction with their son.
Clearly, she had learned a lot of parenting knowledge from Sister Zhou in the past few days, and her interactions were very good.
Gu Xingmo was undoubtedly pleased by this.
He didn’t care what Teacher Su was thinking or what her plans were. At least, she was sincere towards Junzai and willing to invest time and effort, which was enough.
She was the mother of his child, and he would always be more tolerant of her.
Junzai’s schedule was different from adults’. A child his age still needed to sleep fourteen to fifteen hours a day. It was 7:30 PM now, and Sister Zhou had to take him to his room to feed him and put him to sleep, to establish a habit of sleeping around 8 PM.
After Junzai was taken away, the corner of the living room, which had been lively moments ago, immediately became quiet.
Unless there was something truly important to discuss, the two would only exchange a few words naturally. Once there was nothing to talk about, being alone together would become somewhat awkward.
Although their relationship as husband and wife had become more familiar than before, it was still far from being close enough for casual conversation at any time.
At this moment, Su Jiaobai racked her brain, trying to find something to say, when she heard him speak first, “I remember you have a driver’s license?”
“Huh?” The topic change was abrupt. Su Jiaobai looked at him curiously. “What’s wrong?” She had gotten her driver’s license in college, but since she never had a car, she only had the license and zero driving experience.
Gu Xingmo lowered his gaze slightly and smiled at her, “It’s good that you have a driver’s license. You can drive to and from work yourself in the future.”
The rough-around-the-edges Gu Xingmo naturally had a thoughtful and considerate side. He had seen how she returned in the evening, why she was out of breath… He had noticed everything.
If she didn’t have a driver’s license, he could have assigned her a driver. But since she already had one, it would be better for her to drive to and from work herself. Of course, if she didn’t want to drive, he could still assign her a driver; it all depended on her preference.
“I’ll get you a car,” he said, then emphasized, “You can drive to and from work yourself, or if you don’t want to drive, I can get you a driver. You can choose a model you like and tell me, and I’ll get the money for it.”
Su Jiaobai: “!!!”
She had been thinking while showering that now that she had money, with 200,000 yuan in pocket money per month, she could buy a car for commuting.
She wasn’t picky; a car worth tens of thousands would do, and one worth over a hundred thousand would also be fine.
She hadn’t expected Gu Xingmo to also offer to give her a car.
The husband and wife had thought of the same thing. Indeed, they were “of one mind”…
“Are… you sure?” Su Jiaobai, feeling somewhat overwhelmed, was unsure if he genuinely wanted to give her a car or if he had just spoken impulsively.
But based on her understanding of him, such a big boss wouldn’t go back on his word over a car.
Since it was a big boss giving a car, her options would be much wider.
Hearing this, Gu Xingmo said, “What’s there to be unsure about?” meaning that if he said he would give her a car, he would give her a car, and there was no need to discuss it repeatedly.
Then, he added, “There are two cars at home. One is a seven-seater, which isn’t suitable for you. The other is my exclusive car, which is also not convenient for you. So, you can choose one you like. After you decide on a model, just tell me, and I’ll get the money for it.”